Day Three - North Carolina

I got off the Blue Ridge Parkway as it is a bit slow and you can actually get sick of endless vistas over the mountains and forests. Instead I took some back roads and got to see some authentic ramshackle houses, donkeys and fences.




Later in the afternoon, I hiked a couple of miles down into a valley, ostensibly to see a waterfall, but in reality to get some exercise. I neither saw nor heard any living creatures on the walk. It was pretty creepy.


Realised today that the South kind of has an image problem. Every time a pickup truck started following me on a rural road I thought of Mississippi Burning; every time I crossed a river, Deliverance and Blair Witch was never far from mind on my hike.

In contrast, everyone I've met has been super friendly.


Snuck into the dining room at the Biltmore Estate wearing jeans by standing very close to the high table the maitre-de was at. The guy in front of me was turned away.

Currently staying at: the Inn on Biltmore Estate.
Scariest sight today: camoflaged pickup trick with Confederate flag and gun locker.
Tomorrows destination: Nashville TN, country music capital of the world.